Sun Exam Study Strategies

Preparing for Sun exams is something of a mixed bag. Given that Sun’s is one of the 10 biggest IT certification programs, you’d think that exam preparation material would be readily available for all of its exams. But alas, that’s just not true. In part, this stems from new additions to the program (where the aftermarket hasn’t yet caught up), and in part it’s because some Sun exams are perceived as too esoteric to merit large-scale aftermarket support.

Table 1 lists the Sun exams within two categories by the availability of self-study materials: good support and little/no support. Here, good support means that self-study materials are widely available (books, practice tests, exam crams, etc.); little/no support means that I couldn’t find third-party materials to help candidates prepare (but numerous Sun options may be available). This distinction separates those exams for which candidates can easily self-study (good support) and those for which candidates must exert themselves strenuously to self-study (little/no support).